List of all major battles of World War II?

Major battles of World War II:

Airborne Battle of Crete:

The Airborne Battle of Crete was a major battle in World War II. German airborne operations in May 1941 to seize the Greek island of Crete. part of the war in the Balkans.

Crete is located in the eastern Mediterranean, straddling the southern Aegean Sea. The island is 100 kilometers away from the mainland of Greece. It is long and narrow from east to west, with rolling mountains. The south coast is steep and the north coast is gentle. There are roads running through the entire island. Airports are built in Maleme, Rethymnon, Heraklion and other places to defend the British army. An outpost in the Suez Canal Zone and a strategic point for controlling the Eastern Mediterranean. The German army's capture of the island was of great strategic significance for seizing sea control in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

After Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941, in order to ensure the security of its right wing during its eastward expansion, it controlled the communication lines in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, and protected the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania from the British Air Force. raided and decided to capture Crete.

The Airborne Battle of Crete was the first large-scale airborne battle in the history of world war. It was the only landing battle in World War II that used airborne operations as the main combat method. The first attack from the air successfully captured a heavily defended island. It is also the only offensive campaign so far mainly carried out by airborne troops. The German army occupied Crete and since then controlled the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean waterways, ensuring the stability of Southeast Europe, especially the security of the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania, which Germany relied on to maintain the war. However, the Germans underestimated the strength of the defenders. There were not enough transport aircraft, and they airborne in separate and scattered manners without forming a fist. This not only prolonged the battle, but also suffered heavy casualties. The total casualties of the airborne troops participating in the war accounted for one-third of the total. Due to the huge losses of the German airborne troops in this battle, Crete was called the "Grave of German Paratroopers." During the war thereafter, although Germany supplemented and expanded its airborne troops, the German army never conducted large-scale airborne operations again. Although the British Royal Navy had the advantage, it was severely damaged due to lack of air cover and was forced to withdraw to Egypt, unable to provide reliable support to the island defending troops.

After the Crete Airborne Battle, the German army built a battle monument on Crete, which was removed after the war. After the war, the local government of Crete buried the remains of German soldiers who died in various cemeteries in one place and erected a cross.

Battle of Kiev:

From July 7 to September 26, 1941, during the Soviet-German War of World War II, the German army attacked the Soviet Southwest Front in the Kiev area A large-scale encirclement and annihilation campaign was carried out.

The Soviet troops participating in the war include the Southwest Front Army (commanded by General Kirponos), Bryansk Front Army (commanded by Lieutenant General Yeremenko) and the Southern Front Army (commanded by General Tyulenev ), the German participating troops included Army Group "South" (commanded by Marshal Rundstedt) and Army Group "Center" (commanded by Marshal Bock).

This battle was the largest encirclement and annihilation battle in the history of war. The battle lasted for more than two and a half months, and was fought over a large territory of more than 300 kilometers in front and about 600 kilometers in depth. The Soviet army lost about 700,000 people, and 665,000 people were captured. The German army destroyed or captured 884 tanks, 3,718 artillery pieces, and 3,500 vehicles. The results were brilliant. The German army also lost more than 100,000 people. The main reason for the Soviet defeat was Stalin's strategic command errors. Stalin was stubborn and stubborn, and repeatedly refused the correct opinions of his subordinates. In the end, he suffered a disastrous defeat. The Soviet army's failure in this battle brought the southern front to collapse. However, the protracted and tenacious struggle of the front forces played an important role in breaking the German army's "blitz war" plan. The huge force of the German "Center" Army Group was used to assault the flank of the Southwest Front, which delayed the German offensive in the main direction, namely the direction of Moscow. In this way, the Soviet high command could concentrate a large strategic reserve force in the direction of Moscow, which would be decisive for the successful completion of the Moscow Battle. The German army's gains and losses in this battle were just as British military theorist Liddell Hart said: "As far as the siege of Kiev itself is concerned, it can be regarded as a great success. For the German army, it can also be regarded as an unprecedented masterpiece. From a strategic point of view, there seems to be a very good reason to protect the southern flank from the threat of enemy counterattacks before attacking Moscow. In addition, due to the large number of Russian troops, but their relative lack of mobility, this strategy is even more important. It seems advantageous. The German army can concentrate its forces in different areas one after another, and produce several decisive results in turn. However, the only weakness is that "time does not give it to me", especially the German army is not fully prepared for winter operations. “The German army won the largest battle of annihilation in the history of war, but lost the largest battle in the history of war.

Defense of Leningrad:

In late August 1941, a frustrated Hitler mobilized 32 infantry divisions, 4 tank divisions, 4 motorized divisions and A cavalry brigade, equipped with 6,000 cannons, 4,500 mortars and more than 1,000 aircraft, launched a fierce offensive towards Leningrad, threatening to occupy Leningrad on September 1. In the "Barbarossa" plan, the capture of this city on the Neva River was regarded as an "urgent task" - to wipe Leningrad from the face of the earth, kill all the residents, and eliminate the cradle of the proletarian revolution.

The Battle of Leningrad ended victoriously on August 10, 1944, which had a huge impact on the course of the war on the Soviet-German battlefield. This battle contained heavy German troops and the entire Finnish army. After the battle, a large number of Soviet troops were freed up for use in other strategic directions.

Battle of Stalingrad:

The Battle of Stalingrad, also known as the Battle of Stalingrad, was a major turning point in World War II and the bloodiest and largest in human history. one of the battles. The main armies participating in the war were the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. This battle became a famous battle in the history of human warfare due to the heavy casualties suffered by both parties and the disregard for civilian sacrifices.

It is generally believed that the battle included the following parts: the German army’s large-scale bombing campaign against the southern Soviet city of Stalingrad (now known as “Volgograd”); the German army’s invasion of the urban area; street fighting; the Soviet Red Army encircled; and finally annihilated the German army and the Axis allies. The total number of casualties in the war is estimated to be over 2 million. Because the Soviet government was afraid that excessive casualty statistics would affect the public, it refused to provide detailed casualty data at the time. The Axis powers lost a quarter of their troops on the Eastern Front in this battle and never recovered until they were finally defeated. For the Soviet Union, victory in this battle marked the beginning of the recovery of occupied territories, and ultimately ushered in the final victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945.

Battle of Kursk:

The Battle of Kursk was one of the decisive battles on the Soviet-German battlefield during World War II.

After this battle, the Soviet army launched continuous offensives against the German army, regained a large amount of lost ground, and liberated Kiev in November. At the same time, the Soviet commanders at all levels also rapidly grew up in the war, and their command skills It also became more and more mature, and eventually the Soviet army surpassed the German army not only in quantity, but also in quality.

Battle of Alamein:

A famous battle in World War II. On October 23, 1942, in the Alamein area of ??Egypt, the British Eighth Army, under the command of Montgomery, launched an attack on the German and Italian "Afrika Korps" commanded by Rommel. The two armies fought fiercely for twelve days, and the British army won. The Italian army was forced to retreat to the Tunisian border.

Alamein is located in northern Egypt and was the main battlefield in North Africa during World War II. From the end of October to the beginning of November 1942, the British army dealt a heavy blow to the German and Italian fascist forces here, known in history as the Battle of Alamein. This battle ended with the victory of the British army, which reversed the pattern of the North African War and became the beginning of the collapse of the fascist army in North Africa

The Battle of Aleman ended with the victory of the British army. In this battle, both sides paid a huge price. The British army lost more than 7,000 soldiers, while the German and Italian troops suffered nearly 60,000 casualties and prisoners.

The Battle of the Netherlands:

September 17-November 10, 1944, an offensive campaign carried out by the British and American Allied Forces in World War II.

This battle lasted 55 days. The British and Canadian troops advanced 45-90 kilometers in depth on a front 200 kilometers wide. Not all tasks of the Dutch Campaign were completed. The characteristics of the Dutch Campaign are: a large number of airborne troops were used to cooperate with the attack in the main direction. The attacking infantry army adopted a deep echelon configuration of battle formations. The Allies formed a large artillery density for themselves. However, the strategy of breaking through the enemy's defenses in a narrow area (initially only 1.5 kilometers) and then actively expanding the breakthrough on both flanks of the assault group did not achieve the expected results.

Battle of the Ardennes:

The Battle of the Ardennes was also called the Battle of the Bulge in history. The Battle of the Ardennes was Nazi Germany's largest positional counterattack on the Western Front during World War II in 1944. The Germans suffered 100,000 casualties, about 700 tanks and heavy artillery, and 1,600 aircraft. The Allied forces suffered approximately 80,000 losses (including 10,000 dead, 47,000 injured, and 23,000 missing), of which 77,000 were American soldiers. After the Battle of the Ardennes, Hitler had no reserves to supplement, and the German army was no longer able to stop the Allied advance on the Western Front. Therefore, the Battle of the Ardennes is worthy of being called a turning point in history by future generations.

Sicily Landing Battle:

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean. It is located between the Apennine Peninsula and North Africa and is an important barrier to southern Italy. During World War II, in order to ensure the safety of shipping in the Mediterranean and ultimately defeat Italy, the American and British Allied Forces conducted a large-scale landing campaign here from July to August 1943, and successfully captured Sicily.

In May 1943, after the Allies expelled the German and Italian troops from the African continent, they set Sicily, Italy, as the next target of their attack. In the summer of 1943, the Allied forces concentrated a large number of troops in coastal ports in North Africa and prepared to land in Sicily. This operation was codenamed "Hasky" and was implemented by the 15th Army Group commanded by General Alexander. This army group consists of the British 8th Army commanded by Montgomery and the US 7th Army commanded by Patton. It has 13 divisions and 3 independent brigades, with a total strength of 478,000 and more than 4,000 combat aircraft. , about 3,200 various combat ships and auxiliary ships.

In order to ensure the victory of the Sicily landing battle, the Allied forces carried out a misleading operation code-named "Mincemeat" before the battle, sending out the wrong message that the Allied forces would land in Sardinia and Greece, causing Hitler to Orders were given to disperse the German forces on Sicily.

In the middle of the night on July 9, 1943, the Allied forces started the Sicily landing campaign with an airborne landing as planned. In the early morning of the 10th, under the cover of bad weather, the Allied forces forced a landing on Sicily. Facing the sudden attack by the Allies, the German and Italian troops were caught off guard, and the coastal defenses were quickly destroyed. On the third day of the battle, the British army occupied the southeastern part of Sicily. On July 22, the U.S. military captured Palermo, the capital of Sicily. On August 5, British troops occupied Catania. On August 17, the Allied forces entered Messina, the choke point leading to the mainland from the northeastern corner of Sicily, and immediately occupied the entire island. At this point, the Sicily landing campaign ended with the Allied victory.

In this battle, the German and Italian forces invested approximately 270,000 troops, with a total loss of nearly 170,000, and the Allies lost more than 30,000. The Battle of Sicily was an important battle fought by the Allied forces on the European battlefield. The victory of the battle opened the door for the Allied forces to directly attack Italy, deepened the crisis faced by Mussolini's regime, and created conditions for eventually forcing Italy to surrender.